Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials
Trinity #48
Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 29, 2009Cover date: April 29, 2009
Main Story: "Batman Said They Had a Plan"
Main Writers: Kurt Busiek
Main Pencillers: Mark Bagley
Main Inker: Art Thibert
Back-Up Story: "Lesser Beings"
Back-Up Story Writer: Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza
Back-Up Story Penciller: Scott McDaniel
Back-Up Story Inker: Andy Owens
Reviewed by: Neal Bailey with Jeffrey Bridges and Barry Freiman
The heroes and villains continue to battle, and exchange dialogue about said battle and who is stronger and who is not, and why, with motivations already mentioned in previous summaries.
As they do, Batman starts to talk to the CSA, and then talks to the Void Hound, conveying some secret plan.
Superman pulls in a great deal of power from the other heroes (though how is not mentioned), and Krona is suddenly somehow trapped.
To be continued...
Back-Up Story: "Lesser Beings"
Sun-Chained-in-Ink, Tarot, and the Void Hound muse over who they are as people as they attempt to hold Krona in a massive spell. They learn they can hold the spell in place because they're connected to the Earth, and Krona wants to escape the Universe, which gives them power over him.
To be continued...
Neal's Review:
Main Story - 1: More bad dialogue, more fighting, nothing really happens beyond Krona being trapped, which is nonsensical. How can his own energy trap him? Or even if it's Morgan's energy, Morgan's energy is derived from Krona. So Krona can just, VVVVVP! Take his energy back, right, and then be free?
Am I missing some critical element? Does this make sense?
Even if it did, that wouldn't excuse the bad dialogue, atrocious repetition, and endless banality.
Main Art - 2: There isn't anything that really leaps out here, and there is almost no background detail at all in the whole issue. The rendition that was there previously, but there's little context to ground it in, which makes it seem like a series of sketches. Good sketches, but not really a sequential story, just a bunch of arbitrary battle pictures that Busiek ran dialogue through.
Back-Up Story - 1: (Re-reads summary).
Like, WOW, man. (Makes peace sign). That's deep on a surface level, that surface level an oxymoron would be a genius on.
Doesn't mean the story makes sense.
Beyond that, hey, guys? The time to make us care and understand about the characters was forty issues ago. And even then, this isn't how you do it.
Back-Up Art - 4: For all the existential garbage the story turned out to be without point or interest, the art still rocked my socks. I have few if any complaints about McDaniel/Owens, beyond the fact that they have to deal with this story, which isn't their fault.
Cover Art - 2: Boy, it'd be nice to see these guys.
The image is average. The background is odd. The similar pose between Supes and Wondy is strange. The fact that they're not in the issue as depicted is beyond frustrating.
Jeffrey's Review:
Main Story - 1: Superman punches, Wonder Woman points her sword, Batman talks to a metal dog, and now Krona is contained.
Busiek, again, writes my review for me when Krona says, "There is no logic to this."
No kidding.
Main Art - 2: Flames from Krona's head going... up toward... Superman's open legs.
Really?
I mean... REALLY?
Back-Up Story - 1: Oh look, pet characters no one but Busiek cares about save the day, aand some bits and bobs of their backstories. I, for one, am shocked.
Did you catch the sarcasm?
Also, the Death card in tarot DOES NOT MEAN SOMEONE IS GOING TO DIE.
The least you could do was bother to @#&%ing look that up, good lord. This is the laziest writing I've seen in a long, long time.
Back-Up Art - 3: How do you draw a metal dog to look like it's holding out its arms?
Good question.
Cover Art - 3: Nice to see the real costumes back, even though it has nothing at all to do with this issue. Not even remotely.
I would have scored it a 4 if Superman and Wonder Woman's faces didn't look so... warped.
Barry's Review:
Main Story - 1: The Trinity use the spiritual power or whatever mumbo-jumbo they use to siphon energy from the DC heroes on hand? Uh, OK if you say so. As was also the case with 52 and Countdown to Final Crisis, the last seven or eight issues of Trinity look to contain the entire series' climax and conclusion. So why have I reviewed every issue so far? Believe me I ask myself that question every Wednesday.
Main Art - 4: The full page spread with Batman negotiating with the Void Hound is really a powerful set of images. It's potent that it's such a sweeping and retro-contemporary image of the Dark Knight given it's the first time he's being drawn with his cowl-covered human face since about issue 17 or 18.
Then there's the half page panel of Superman striking Krona with Ultra-Man on Superman's right and Kara on Superman's left. Notwithstanding Supes is still a little blue - and thank goodness the blue electric Superman suit never factored into this, but I digress - the image is shaded in such a way that Superman actually looks like Superman and not a shiny man of blue steel. It's appropriate to have him surrounded by his cousin and his evil doppelganger as he upper-cuts the big yellow K-man.
Back-Up Story - 3: I waffled between giving this a two and a three and decided to be generous. While I still don't care about Tarot, Sun-Chained-In-Ink, and the Void Hound (is John Stewart in there or not?), I do admire the writing style of one character's words melding into another character's words. It's unfortunate that the writing immediate devolves into a ridiculously contrived, just-because-the-writer-says-so conclusion about the power of the heroic ideal. Well, we need to take it where we can get it when it comes to this series.
Back-Up Art - 3: I know I should hate the art but I don't. The last page panel of Krona surrounded by a circle of supers in stasis (say that three times fast) has an almost Golden Age feel to it. It's a definite grittier take than the lead story art but it works just as well.
Cover Art - 2: Is that Jay Leno wearing the bat-suit? If so, it's a reasonable conclusion that, on New Earth, being Batman is equivalent to, on our Earth, hosting the Tonight Show. I guess that'd make Johnny Carson the Golden Age Batman and you know which sidekick that would make Ed McMahon, don't you? Robin, the drunk wonder. Is my apathy showing?
The cover score does go from a one to a two because it's the first cover in who-cares-how-long where the heroes are wearing their regular costumes. I'm otherwise unimpressed with the remainder of the cover.
Mild Mannered Reviews
2009
Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.January 2009
- Action Comics #871
- Superman #682
- Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian #1
- Supergirl #35
- Superman/Batman #54
- Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #1
- Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #2
- Trinity #23
- Trinity #24
- Trinity #25
- Trinity #26
- Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #3
- Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #4
- Justice League of America #27
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman #1
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1
- Justice Society of America #21
- Tangent: Superman's Reign #9
- Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #20
- Super Friends #9
- Action Comics #872
- Superman #683
- Supergirl #36
- Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #3
- Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #4
- Trinity #27
- Trinity #28
- Trinity #29
- Trinity #30
- Trinity #31
- Final Crisis #5
- Final Crisis: Secret Files #1
- Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #5
- Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #6
- Justice League of America #28
- Justice Society of America #22
- Tangent: Superman's Reign #10
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #1
- Super Friends #10
- Action Comics #873
- Superman #684
- Superman/Batman Annual #3
- Supergirl #37
- Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #5
- Trinity #32
- Trinity #33
- Trinity #34
- Trinity #35
- Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #2
- Final Crisis #6
- Final Crisis #7
- Justice League of America #29
- Tangent: Superman's Reign #11
- Black Lightning: Year One #1
- Black Lightning: Year One #2
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #2
- Super Friends #11
- Action Comics #874
- Superman #685
- Supergirl #38
- Superman/Batman #55
- Adventure Comics #0
- Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3
- Trinity #36
- Trinity #37
- Trinity #38
- Trinity #39
- Justice League of America #30
- Tangent: Superman's Reign #12
- Black Lightning: Year One #3
- Black Lightning: Year One #4
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #3
- Super Friends #12
- Superman: World of New Krypton #1
- Action Comics #875
- Superman #686
- Supergirl #39
- Superman/Batman #56
- Superman/Batman #57
- Trinity #40
- Trinity #41
- Trinity #42
- Trinity #43
- Justice League of America #31
- Black Lightning: Year One #5
- Black Lightning: Year One #6
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #4
- Super Friends #13
- Superman: World of New Krypton #2
- Action Comics #876
- Superman #687
- Supergirl #40
- Superman/Batman #58
- Superman/Batman #59
- Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4
- Trinity #44
- Trinity #45
- Trinity #46
- Trinity #47
- Trinity #48
- Justice League of America #32
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #5
- Super Friends #14
- Superman: World of New Krypton #3
- Action Comics #877
- Superman #688
- Supergirl #41
- Superman/Batman #60
- Trinity #49
- Trinity #50
- Trinity #51
- Trinity #52
- Justice League of America #33
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #6
- Super Friends #15
- Superman: World of New Krypton #4
- Action Comics #878
- Action Comics Annual #12
- Superman #689
- Supergirl #42
- Superman/Batman #61
- Justice League of America #34
- Super Friends #16
- Superman: World of New Krypton #5
- Action Comics #879
- Superman #690
- Supergirl #43
- Superman/Batman #62
- Wednesday Comics #1
- Wednesday Comics #2
- Wednesday Comics #3
- Wednesday Comics #4
- Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5
- Justice League of America #35
- Justice League: Cry For Justice #1
- Super Friends #17
- Superman: World of New Krypton #6
- Action Comics #880
- Superman #691
- Adventure Comics #1
- Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1
- Superman Annual #14
- Supergirl #44
- Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #2
- Superman/Batman #63
- Blackest Night: Superman #1
- Wednesday Comics #5
- Wednesday Comics #6
- Wednesday Comics #7
- Wednesday Comics #8
- Justice League of America #36
- Justice League: Cry For Justice #2
- Super Friends #18
- Superman: Secret Origin #1
- Superman: World of New Krypton #7
- Action Comics #881
- Superman #692
- Supergirl Annual #1
- Supergirl #45
- Adventure Comics #2
- Superman/Batman #64
- Blackest Night: Superman #2
- Wednesday Comics #9
- Wednesday Comics #10
- Wednesday Comics #11
- Wednesday Comics #12
- Justice League of America #37
- Justice League: Cry For Justice #3
- Super Friends #19
- Superman: Secret Origin #2
- Superman: World of New Krypton #8
- Action Comics #882
- Superman #693
- Supergirl #46
- Adventure Comics #3
- Superman/Batman #65
- World's Finest #1
- Blackest Night: Superman #3
- Justice League of America #38
- Justice League: Cry For Justice #4
- Super Friends #20
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Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2009.